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I decided to write this because right now, I have a lot of freetime due to the current community quarantine. I hope you enjoy this journal, and I'm excited to share my experiences. Feel free to comment, criticize and ask questions!, It's been almost a year since the last time I played, so I've missed a lot of changes.

Settings:
This is the setting for my game; I forgot to change the difficulty to immortal, I don't want to replay the whole game for that.
Standard map size, standard speed, emperor difficulty, communitu_79 map.

SpoilerSetting :

Overview:
Philippines is a custom civ as you can see, and I'm very excited because this is my home country, anyway, let's discuss its UA.

SpoilerPhilippines Unique Ability :

Trade Route Origin Cities gain 34% of the Target City's specific Production Progress each turn, increasing by 8% per Open Border Agreement with the Target Civilization. Both you and your Trade partners gain Culture when either of your Trade Units move through the other's territory.

My initial view on this UA is strong, but it's hard to use and it is quite random. It's UA allows Philippines to "build" different infrastructures from different nations, as well as policy building from Rationalism. In the early game, it is hard to maximize this UA because the number of trade routes is limited and some target cities have slow production, but it's a beast in the mid game to late game. You can get a lots of "free" diplomatic units, public works, and military units!

Unlike other trading civs like Morocco and Ottoman, The UA of Philippines is not that good when trading with city-states because these cities are not that great in terms of technology and production. Tactical switching of trade routes is a must if you want to maximize its UA, for example, sending all your trade routes on Japan to get a Dojo, then changing towards another another Civ with UB, then on cities with "rationalism" for the free observatories (if you're not planning on taking rationalism). Although, you can just send trade routes on good cities if you hate micromanaging.

For the unique component, let's start with Balangay because it's available on the ancient era. I really like this UU because it allows early exploration because it can travel across oceans, and it's cheap because it contains a settler and a naval unit.

The Coral Church has a lot of yields, it provides faith and gold, available at Civil Service and it can be built on landlocked cities. Balangay and Coral Church wants me to go wide, but it's not necessary though, I just prefer wide plays.

So let's begin!
Manila was founded on a coastal flood plain (ideal for Petra and Colossus). This is my starting location, where I'll have a tea luxury. I like tea luxury because it provides 10% culture, and it gives high production on tiles. I got a nomad ruin, and started working on Shrine->Monument.

SpoilerTurn 3 :

After building the shrine-monument, I started building a worker. I wanted to try Goddess of Home, initially, I'm about to take Springtime, but I found out that it no longer provides faith on markets, and I'm researching trade for Petra. Home+Progress is quite a combo, so I took it instead.

SpoilerTurn 21 :

I explored the landmass and realized that I'm alone, which is not ideal for my UA. In the image below, I marked the red tiles for the first wave of settlers, and the pink tile for the second. Cities on red marks are nearer, so it's safer to send internal trade routes toward that cities. Before building Petra (researching trade), I built granary->balangay. This step is important, so Petra is readily functional after being built.

SpoilerTurn 26 :

I built the Balangay, and moved it on the east and started building Petra. I also started researching Wheel->Calendar, I need the production from tea, the 10% culture is not that important in this stage of the game. While moving my balangay, I met Kabul. I took Progress as my ancient policy, as I plan to go wide fast and it is synergistic with my pantheon.

SpoilerTurn 35 :

I found Caloocan, and moved my balangay east to continue exploring, where I met M'banza Kongo and Hanoi, who gave me free pathfinder. I want to explore more on these group of islands for more city-states and to guide my pathfinder on collecting ruins.

SpoilerTurn 41 and 42 :

I started researching Fishing->Animal Husbandry->Mining. I built Petra and started building another Balangay. I found Cebu and started exploring the western ocean. I took the left path of Progress which focuses on buildings. I started exploring the landmass on the south, and started collecting the ruins on the east. New cities will build Shrine->Monument->Well (if available)->Council. I started building caravan on the capital to send in Cebu.

SpoilerTurn 60 :

I used my UA to build council in Manila by changing Cebu's current project to council, then swapping it back to Shrine. I started building different infrastructures to gain the free instant culture, food and faith from Progress and Home. I should've build Herbalist first before Market, but, it's not a big deal. I met Zulu's pathfinder on my landmass, so he must be at the north? or east?, it just mean that there is a shallow coast between us. Then I met France on the west. Zulu is also willing to trade 9 gold for Tea, which is a good help.

SpoilerTurn 62 :

I continued exploring west and found this healthy sea, where I met Spain, Brazil and Aztecs, war will always brew here I predict (Turn 68). I also found this beautiful small island, I plan on settling here. Caloocan started building Herbalist->Balangay to settle on that island. I will build a balangay on Manila, to settle on the pink-marked tile (turn 26 spoiler).

SpoilerTurn 68 :

SpoilerA Beautiful Island :

Manila and Caloocan started building Balangays. I continued exploring the west, to meet Germany.

SpoilerTurn 73 :

I continued collecting ruins on the east. I started to build 2 archers on Manila then a worker. I got the military theory technology from a ruin, so I changed my build order to Barracks->Archer->Archer->Worker. My tech order is from Bronze Working->Construction->Masonry->Iron Working->Metal Casting. I wanted to beeline Colossus. Bronze Working first to reveal iron and upgrade my warrior, and since I don't have enough workers, I made masonry 2nd.

SpoilerTurn 76 :

I adopted my 3rd policy from progress, the free worker. I found Davao on turn 79 and moved 1 of my worker to improve the tea.

SpoilerTurn 79 :

And a sudden hearbeak

SpoilerSadness :

I decided to just settle the city on the north of the landmass; 1st because it has 2 teas, and I don't want the Zulu to settle on that area after finding out that the Zulu is just nearer than I anticipated .

I discovered a stony island on the west.

SpoilerTurn 82 :

I found Butuan and started exploring north to find the Zulus, although I made a detour and started wandering northwest lol. I started building another set of balangays to settle on that hill with a tea, on the stony island (Marked pink), and on an island on the east. The landmass on the south is uninteresting, so it is not a priority, but I'll settle there as soon as I got Banking.

SpoilerTurn 90 :

I met the last major civ, Ethiopia, the first founder ofc.

SpoilerEthiopia :

I managed to found Sikhism on turn 93, with Holy Law and Mandirs. I took Holy Law because I'm planning to have highly populated cities (Mandir + Goddess of Home), and spread my religion on the neighboring city-states, and if Zulu failed to found a religion, then lucky me .

SpoilerTurn 93 :

Manila finished constructing a balangay, and will build another one. After the last wave of balangays, I will start constructing lots of workers (about 10) and start building Luxury Resources->Roads->Horses->Quarries->Banana Plantations->Bonus Resources.

SpoilerTurn 94 :

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoy! any comments?

Last edited: Mar 23, 2020

"Never trust an Asian"- random asian stranger
Just look at the flowers Lizzie

After building the balangay at Caloocan, I moved it at the south of Bogota. On the main island, I keep building workers, work boats, etc to improve every tiles possible ASAP.

SpoilerTurn 97 :

Another balangay is built at Manila, therefore we still have 3 unused balangays. (one is toward the tea hill)

SpoilerTurn 99 :

I found Iloilo on turn 100 and Quezon on turn 101. As you can see, I settled near the barbarian camp (Quezon), and I finished Bogota's quest. Not that smart though, but I have no choice because moving my settler anywhere will cost a turn, and that barbarian will capture my settler.

SpoilerTurn 100 and 101 :

Now this is what my main landmass looks like, after building workers on my cities, I focused on herbalists (if the city has 2 or more plantations/camp) -> stoneworks (even just 1 quarry) -> barracks -> forge -> arena, one of the best early game building combo.

SpoilerTurn 102 :

France is willing to give me 6GPT for a single horse, stonks. I'm not going to build a land army because It's not ideal in the current geography. So, selling my horses is more useful than personally using them. War is actually brewing on the western landmasses, which is nice so I can focus on growing my empire. If you're curious where Ethiopia and Germany is, Ethiopia can be found on the south of the western landmasses (I think between France and Aztec) while Germany is at the northeast of Spain.

SpoilerStonks :

Early on, I explored the cold island immediately south of my landmass, I could FIT about 4 cities there, but decided to just make it 2 (red circles). I'm going to build more balangays, but will NOT SETTLE NOR SPAWN THE SETTLER because I'll have to research Banking first to spawn Pioneers. I'm also recovering from the settling spree, so it's unwise to do it immediately There is also no competition on those spots, so no worries. I also discovered a choco island with three fishes, not a priority settling spot, but I'll settle here later. Caloocan built a worker, I moved it towards Quezon.

SpoilerCold Southern Landmass and Choco Island :

I decided to wait for my next policy before settling on the stony island. Then I started moving my pathfinder towards the choco island to get that ruin. My empire is on less than 50% happiness, but it is fine. Actually, I think my empire is doing well because my cities can build infrastructures fast thanks to +5 hammer teas and stone quarries, and my economy is good. Worth noting that I'm beelining Colossus, so sometimes it's inevitable to be behind vs technological and cultural race.

SpoilerTurn 105 :

I bought a missionary, then spread it toward Caloocan and Cebu, then let the passive pressure overcome my cities pantheon.

SpoilerTurn 108 :

This what the north looks like, Luckily, Zulu is not a threat, I'll have a stronger navy in the future (I hope so), but If he'll take Imperialism, my navy + Lantaka will be no match. I found Ragusa, though I can already see its tile, I'm just lazy on moving my balangays there. Part of me wanted to conquer Bulawayo with my balangays, but nevermind, this is just emperor and I don't want to exploit them that much.

SpoilerTurn 110 :

I found Laguna after adopting my last progress' policy and bought that atoll. These are amazing tiles!

SpoilerTurn 111 :

I bought another missionary to spread it towards Singapore. And remember the pathfinder towards the choco island?, they were nomads and gave Laguna some lands. This is very helpful because those ocean tiles will help Laguna boosts its food and production without needing gold to buy its tiles (I'm about too). Instead, I bought a worker to improve the nearby resources. My workers keep building roads, cutting jungles or woods on future village spot (nothing more to improve, so this is an important action)

SpoilerTurn 112 :

I started improving Quezon, I bought a work boat, and focus on buying nearby sea tiles.

SpoilerTurn 114 :

Singapore can't be converted readily (only 5 of 11 citizens), so I decided to move my missionary towards Davao and convert them, then towards Laguna because it is not on the main landmass.

SpoilerTurn 116 :

I finished researching Metal Casting and started building the Colossus, I focused my production towards it. It will be a great loss if I failed to build this wonder since I wasted lots of science on beelining it!. I also started building the Heroic Epic at Caloocan for the free GW, I'll be needing more culture since I'm very behind. Then, another stonks from my horse industry!

SpoilerTurn 118 :

After beelining metal casting, I started beelining Civil Service, one of the most important tech when playing as the Philippines because it unlocks its UB, and allows open borders, and to build progress' unique wonder, Forbidden Palace. Also, beelining civil serrvice is not a big loss (in terms of culture and science) because it provides access to more scientific (libraries and universities) and cultural buildings (amphitheater, writer guilds and temples), unlike during metal casting beelining (although, production is nice here + the arena and baths).

Anyway, I started off on Sailing to connect my island cities (Laguna and Quezon) and more power to sea resources, then Writing for libraries and scrivener's office, then Mathematics so I can upgrade my archers and kill those spearmen camp and as a prerequisite for Currency, I want currency first to build villages, then Drama and Poetry, Philosophy, Education, Theology (planning to build Hagia Sophia so I can focus on building mandirs and missionaries), and lastly Civil Service!

SpoilerJourney to Civil Service :

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoy! any comments?

"Never trust an Asian"- random asian stranger
Just look at the flowers Lizzie

It definitely works. It also works on your own cities, so push come to shove you can send all your TRs from your secondary cities to your capital, and then pump out units, public works, or newly unlocked buildings

It works on a per-turn basis, so sending the TRs to high production cities will definitely give you more visible results. the chance of siphoning a unique unit is vanishingly small, but you can siphon off up to half of the necessary production for a building and then invest to complete it. Another useful thing is sending spies to the same cities you are sending TRs to so you can coordinate your production with target cities.

After a few turns on wait for our Colossus to be built, I started spreading my religion on nearby city-states little by little. Zulu can wait because I don't want him to benefit on my religion right away (although, It's only Mandirs ) and no contest on spreading thanks to the ocean. I sent a missionary towards Hanoi, however it will only convert 5 citizens, so I moved it again towards Bulawayo. 43 science is very low and 23 culture is pathetic, so I am pathetically behind and my happiness is 35%. Iloilo is a young city but Its production fairly good for a 3-population city.

SpoilerTurn 123 and 125 :

Water mill is being built, and It's only 2 turns away thanks to Philippines UA. My build order for Manila is Water mill -> Library -> Lighthouse -> Scrivener's Office -> Circus Maximus. Also, started building libraries in every city.

SpoilerTurn 127 :

Sikhism is now followed by my cities in the main landmass, and started passive buying mandirs. The missionary from Bulawayo is on their way towards Quezon.

SpoilerTurn 130 :

Brazil gave me 192 gold, why is everyone so friendly! I also adopted the the opener for statescraft, where I got a handy amount of faith, science and gold! The bonus science helped me research Currency, and I started constructing my trading posts, which are amazing. I entered a golden age, not much effect on culture but it helped me on my economy and infrastructure. Invest, invest and invest!

SpoilerThanks Pedro :

I started building libraries in every city, and a Great Engineer is born, I'll construct a manufactory with it. 61 science is still low, and no significant changes in my culture. 2 more turns for Drama and Poetry, let's see how it will affect our culture in the following turns. I also destroyed a barbarian camp with my 2 scouts on the cold southern landmass. It gave me 192 points for GG (200 is required).

SpoilerTurn 136 :

Quezon is now doing good, I bought its nearby tiles (atolls and fishes). I also started building every building available on some cities, even though it is not necessarily needed like caravansaries, baths and walls. Don't get me wrong though, these buildings are good if I have amphitheaters, garden, bank etc. Antwerp became an ally.

SpoilerTurn 138 and 139 :

After 10 turns, I almost doubled my culture and faith by building temples, amphitheaters and writer's guild. My science is also doing well by working my scientists, the most important specialist (along with cultural specialists) in the early game because non-specialist improvement can already give us gold, production and food. I also began constructing diplomatic units, Zulu is actually doing better than me in the diplomatic aspect. My economy is also doing well, with 100GPT. In 1 turn, I'll began building Universities and become a scientific power.

SpoilerTurn 148 :

I moved my emissary towards Singapore. Although, I prefer allying Kabul because it is cultural, Singapore is only 4 turns away for becoming an ally and Kabul's quest is unattainable at the moment (spawn a GG).

SpoilerTurn 149 :

After building Mandirs on every city, I began spreading my religion towards city-states and Zulu. I'll use Quezon to convert eastern city-states while Butuan on Zulu.
Bogota wants a road, Singapore has jewelry, so I'll steal them from Zulu. I'll use this road's production reward for either Hagia Sophia or Forbidden Palace.

SpoilerTurn 150 :

I decided to make a city reports from time to time.
This is where I'll show every city's status, construction queue, citizen allocations etc.

CITY REPORT

SpoilerCity Report :

Manila is the capital, so it is stronger compared on other cities. I forgot to work the civil servant, but currently it has 2 writer specialists and 1 scientist specialist. I'm building most of my national wonders and world wonders here (Circus Maximus, National Monument, School of Philosophy etc). The good thing about taking progress is that, power is not centralized here. It is almost equal on other cities, and I can specialize more cities.

SpoilerManila :

My second city is Caloocan, a 10-pop city with pretty good production and where I built a great writer guild and the Heroic Epic. I'm planning to build most of my land units especially Katipuneros.

SpoilerCaloocan :

The third city is Cebu, It is as populated as Manila, and soon will outgrow the capital. This is where I built the third great writer guild. Its production, gold and food is also good.

SpoilerCebu :

Davao is also doing good in terms of production, usually working on not-so-great tiles (desert quarry, lumber mill and an oasis) but quite bearable. Planning to build the artist guild here in the future. University will be built next.

SpoilerDavao :

Butuan is the northernmost city- and the future trading hub for Zulu and some city-states. This will be the second city who will benefit on Philippines UA. It has amazing tiles and has better production than Manila. Its growth came from the internal TR from Manila. I considered this city as my second capital based on strength and importance.

SpoilerButuan :

IloIlo is a filler city for the tea, its tiles were nice though, and this is where I'm planning to build the second artist guild. The production is good, but still behind from other buildings like amphitheater and temples. I forgot to change the queue, will replace caravansary -> walls to university -> caravansary -> walls. Growth is also good from the caravan from Manila (later, this caravan will be sent to Singapore).

SpoilerIloIlo :

Quezon is the farthest eastern city, important for communication with eastern city-states, for the Wine and quite strategic on dominating the eastern sea. The tiles were nice and very self-sufficient. Since this city is young, it is still behind on some infrastructure.

SpoilerQuezon :

And for the last city, Laguna. This is a beautiful island city on the west, it has 3 quarries giving off an amazing production, added with atolls and fishes, it is self-sufficient. I'm planning to build the third artist guild here (or on Quezon, it depends).

SpoilerLaguna :

Overall, my empire is keeping up with other civilizations. In the next part, I'll be focusing on climbing on the top of the score board. I'll have objectives in my mind to do so:
1. Build Hagia Sophia and enhance my religion
2. Spread my religion
3. Keep up on technologies and policies
4. Build Forbidden Palace
5. Explore the world (optional)

If you're wondering why I took Goddess of Home + Mandirs, but not spamming farms nor maximizing growth...
That is because I want to focus on production and specialists without sacrificing too much happiness yet still maintaining growth. In the later phase of the game after rationalization and freedom or order, my population will insanely increase as soon as I can support highly populated wide empire.

Thank you for reading! hope you enjoyed!

"Never trust an Asian"- random asian stranger
Just look at the flowers Lizzie

I just have a question: Does the UA actually work? I dont understand how it works at all, I have never gotten anything from it.

Click to expand...

It does. In the later eras where you'll have more trade routes and when AIs production became powerful, you'll start pumping lots of free units, buildings and public works.
I also wanted to compare and highlight the Philippines UA vs Ottoman and Morocco.

1. Ottoman - They almost have the same UA, Tanzimat where you'll get bonus yields when a TR is finished. The Philippines UA is a per-turn basis, therefore it is less risky compared to the Ottoman's UA. The difference is, Ottoman's yield is more direct, depending whether internal or external, while Philippines UA is focused on production. Philippines UA is also wasted when you already built a building that the target city is trying to build. However, you can still gain some yields when the target city is building processes, so it is not locked on production. Let us also not forget about the TR culture on Philippines UA, which is helpful in the early game.

2. Morocco - The TR bonuses of Morocco only affects the capital but it provides all yields and like the Philippines UA, it is a per-turn basis. In the Philippines, it affects the origin city, so it is quite more versatile compared to Morocco. Morocco's UA is also less risky on the Philippines UA. Morocco's UA prefer sending trade routes on city-states to maximize the "unique trade route partner", and other countries are more likely to send TR towards Morocco. The Philippines prefer sending TR on powerful productive cities, which some city-states can't offer.

I also wanted to discuss policy choices when playing as the Philippines. The Philippines is TR-related civ and is unique because unlike other TR-related civs, city-states are not the most preferred trading partner. I'm not saying that TR-related civs always aim for diplomatic victory, their economy is amazing which can aid them for any VC. It still depends on the dynamics, geography, choices and victory condition you're aiming for. I could also say, that the Philippines is versatile since they can win any victory conditions. Now, let's discuss the policy choices from Ancient and Medieval trees. I won't go much into details because the strategies to be discussed is almost the same as the others.
AncientTradition - Traditional Philippines is viable if you want to play peacefully and tall. The strategy here is to make the most powerful capital like any other traditional civ. Like Morocco, you can use all your TRs with Manila as its origin city and spread it across the great cities and siphon their progress. You can build wonders and buildings faster with this, you can also get exclusive UB from other civs. Non-tradition Philippines can also benefit from this, but it is easier with tradition since most TR is from Manila. You can also send TRs toward Manila, which can aid both the satellite city and your Capital. Traditional Philippines will also benefit from extra growth from Coral Churches, where tall civs usually shine.

Progress - Progress Philippines is my favorite strategy because I want to maximize the potential of balangays and Coral Churches. Going wide as a Philippines is beneficial because you'll get extra yields from Coral Churches (with open borders agreement) and balangays is really good at expanding your empire. Trade routes are more likely to pass through your territory when you're wide. However, the biggest downside is that you'll make enemies, making Coral Churches weaker in the long term. Exploration from balangays can also aid your early game economy by trading luxuries, as well as dealing with unhappiness.

Authority - Although I never tried Authority Philippines, I can say that it is almost the same as Progress, to go wide but with force. Philippines' balangay can help them slightly dominate the sea if there are no triremes. Balangay is faster, you can attack then safely escape in the ocean if it's going to die (removed in the latest patch). You can also bully city-states when you accumulate balangays during your settling phase, but as authority, you usually don't want to found cities. You can use your UA to send internal TRs to build units faster. Warmonger Philippines is viable because of Lantaka and Katipunero on the latter phase of the game. Keep in mind that Coral Churches provide +2 military supplies, and can be built on land cities.

MedievalFealty - If you choose Authority or Progress, Fealty is viable. If you're surrounded by major civilizations, choose fealty to either push defensive and offensive strategies. Fealty also provides trade bonuses, and especially good with wide civilizations, which Authority and Progress Philippines can benefit. Along with Coral Churches, you can amass a strong religion and faith generation, defensive cities and bonus growth. Fealty has synergy with Coral Churches and Philippines UA.

Statescraft - Can be chosen with any ancient policies. If you're surrounded by city-states, this is one of the best policy. The reason why I don't ALWAYS choose statescraft as my primary medieval policy is because, the two other policies are also viable. Another reason is that, even though it buffs TRs and provides a TR slot, it focuses on diplomacy and sending TRs on city-states. If you want to maximize the potential of your UA, sending them on TRs on city-states is not always the best. You can still choose statescraft even without prioritizing diplomatic victory because it still provides science and gold, and you can still benefit on city-states alliance. You can also send your TRs on statescraft civ, they always build diplomatic units!

Artistry - Can be chosen with any ancient policies, but best choice when you choose Tradition. This is actually my top choice even when going wide especially if other civilizations are not militaristically threatening. Trade routes and open borders will provide more bonus tourism with other civs, which is where Philippines benefits the most. Culture is always a good thing, and artistry can help you keep up with runaways AI. Send trade routes on powerful AIs and benefit from the bonus tourism, yields and production (from UA). You can also utilize the Philippines to steal wonders from runaway AI. Usually, Artistry can help you keep up with other civs OR become the runaway itself.

Last edited: Apr 5, 2020

"Never trust an Asian"- random asian stranger
Just look at the flowers Lizzie

In the next 4-6 turns, I researched Theology with the help of science boost from adopting policy. I started building Hagia Sophia even though I can spawn a GProphet in 5 turns, I can use that faith to spread my religion towards Zulu and nearby city-states.
After building libraries, universities and school of philosophy, I managed to make my science rise from 125ish. I also started researching Civil Service! I moved my missionary towards a Zulu city - Umgungundlovu. Why did I do this? -because in 3 turns, I can start asking for open borders, if I spread my religion to Nongoma, it will cause attrition.

SpoilerTurn 157 :

Hagia Sophia is built, I used the GProphet to enhance my religion with:
1. Scholarship - Science is always a good boost especially when going wide, I also don't want my population to just pull me down. The extra growth from Home, Mandirs and Coral Churches will aid me reach 30 pop after rationalization and freedom/order. My science rose from 127 to 169.
2. Abode of Peace - I'm surrounded by city-states, and the quest bonus is always nice. I also want to maintain my religion from foreign cities (city-states and Zulu) for the extra gold yield. I started building chanceries because I'll wither befriend or ally the nearby city-states thanks to abode of peace and TRs bonus influence.

I'm now second on the scoreboard. Thanks to my UA, I invested on the university in Manila and now it's only 1 turn away. I bought two missionaries in Quezon to spread toward M'banza Kongo and Hanoi. I also bought two missionaries in Iloilo to spread toward Singapore, Antwerp and Kabul (the three southern city-states). In 1 turn, I'll start to build Forbidden Palace and Coral Churches.

SpoilerTurn 158 :

This will be the build order for Manila, Forbidden Palace -> Coral Church -> Oxford University -> Grand Temple. However, I'll build the Divine Court ASAP once it is available.

I started building Coral Churches in every city regardless of its building queue (except Davao and Manila). I also started building the road towards Bogota, this will be a good production boost for Forbidden Palace. I'll also takeover the alliance vs Zulu. I bought a missionary in Butuan to spread towards Zulu.

SpoilerTurn 160 :

My religion is now doing well, and I'm already the leading civ in the scoreboard. I didn't ask for open borders with every civ right away, because IDK why its expensive. I decided to wait a little.

SpoilerTurn 161 :

I could say that I'm doing well (not in the happiness department). I already finished 3/5 of my personal objectives, I need compass to finish the 5th, and it's not that important.

In the following images, I increased my graphics for aesthetics and clarity on your sides, although I don't mind at all since I usually play on strategic view.
I built the road to Bogota, which gave me an alliance and the 129 production. Although only about 2-3 turns worth of production, it is still nice.

SpoilerTurn 163 :

I began refocusing my specialists, citizen allocations and build orders. The usual scientists from the addition of universities. I started off with ofc Coral Churches -> Aqueducts (extra growth is good especially when added with coral churches) -> Amphitheater/Temples -> Gardens -> Baths -> Stable (if the city works 2 or more stable). I began moving my scouts, one on the east and one on the west. I'll station them to be upgraded as explorers after researching compass.

SpoilerTurn 164 :

My capital is still building the Forbidden Palace, and next is coral church, since my internal TR aids on building the coral church, investing it will help me building it for only 1 turn. You can also see that aqueduct can no longer be invested. After building the national wonders, let's see how much productions from non-national wonder buildings will be accumulated!

SpoilerManila and my UA :

I bought a missionary for Ragusa and started mobilizing my lazy workers towards the southern landmass. I'll settle there after researching Banking.

SpoilerTurn 165 :

I adopted Foreign Service, for bonus quest rewards. Along with abode of peace, this will aid me allying nearby city-states with minimum effort and diplomatic units. I got 905 gold, science and faith! It's a great bonus, this helped me research Compass for only 1 turn. I used most of the gold to invest on aqueducts, and conserved some for upgrading my balangays and scouts. I moved my diplomat on Ulundi.

My workers are now placed on the resources on the south, it'll be a flashy transformation!

SpoilerTurn 166 :

I although its a bit premature, I began asking for open borders with every civilization. I researched compass and began upgrading my balangays to caravel and my scouts to explorer. The yields for coral churches are breathtakingly powerful, especially for wide. Food and gold are not the greatest yield possible, but keep in mind that food will help me passively grow without working on food heavy tiles, and gold is a versatile resource which comes in any aid possible. The compass also gave me 1 TR slot, helpful for my UA. Unknowingly, I spawned a GProphet from Holy Law, I just used it to build a Holy Shrine.

SpoilerTurn 167 :

I think my empire did well on the Medieval, not in the "golden age" per se, but I felt like it's my self-defined golden age due to the peace and the vast improvement in science, culture and religion. The western world is still in chaos of war, although I'm hoping for a runaway, or this game will be very easy.

My endeavor towards renaissance!
Renaissance is one of the era where most AI will become powerful (IDK if it's applicable in emperor though), so even if right now I'm in the first place, some civ will eventually keep up. I felt sad for Zulu, a warmonger civ hungry for war alone in a small continent. Anyway, let's proceed on my research tree.
The queue for my research is Steel -> Guilds -> Printing Press -> Banking -> Machinery -> Gunpowder

SpoilerInto the Renaissance :

I decided to go for Steel first to boost my mines in Caloocan and in other cities. I also wanted to build armories before training balangay, because balangay is a military unit, therefore it benefits from barracks and armories. Then Guilds for artist's guild and as a prerequisite for Printing Press. My first renaissance tech is Printing Press in order to found the World Congress first. Then I go for Banking to spawn pioneers instead of settlers, and it allows me to build banks. Then Machinery for ironworks and allows me to build lumbermills in rainforests. Last is Gunpowder, as soon as I built armories and other important buildings, I'll spam Lantaka (although, I have no irons).

That's it for part 4!

"Never trust an Asian"- random asian stranger
Just look at the flowers Lizzie

Forbidden Palace is built, and 1 turn coral church is on the way! My exploration will be: The eastern explorer will go to Brazil, Spain and Germany while the western explorer will explore France, Ethiopia and Aztec. Who'll explore Zulu then? -missionaries, LOL. In 3-4 turns, we'll have the Divine Court! I want to reform ASAP with either Divine Teaching, Global Commandments or Faith for the Mass.

SpoilerTurn 168 :

Carl Friedrich Gauss (GS) is born in Manila, I moved him in the marsh near Cebu to establish an academy. Divine Court is being built, and I wanted my exploration to pay off by discovering city-states and natural wonders. I doubt I'll find ancient ruins in this phase of the game.

SpoilerTurn 169 :

Steel is researched, I began building armories after chanceries (added to queue). In Butuan, I began building 2 cargo ships (I deleted 1 caravan) then Stable -> Armory -> Balangay. My missionary is doing well in spreading and exploring. Manila is building Oxford University, I'll use the GS to build another academy. I also reformed my religion with Divine Teachings - I decided to go for more science. Even though I built universities in every city, the extra science is always welcome. 240 science is wonderful! My economy is also doing well but my happiness is less than 50%, my culture is still low. The north is now following Sikhism, kind of cute.

SpoilerTurn 173 :

Oxford is built in Manila, and I started constructing an aqueduct. Claude Shannon (GS) moved toward Cebu to establish an academy, but will be worked by Butuan. When oxford is built, it gave me a short-lived alliance with Jerusalem. I moved my diplomat from Ulundi (Zulu) to Paris (France). I started building/prepping Artist's Guilds on Laguna Iloilo and Quezon. I decided to build the guild on Iloilo instead of Davao, I want Davao to build a balangay, and the growth there is scarce. I also began upgrading my penteconter to galleas. I focused investing on guilds.

SpoilerTurn 175 and 176 :

I began worrying on my happiness, and since I'm planning my second wave of settling, I'm having a dilemma. I addressed this with a short-term solution, by trading luxuries from other major civs. My explorer discovered a barbarian-owned Riga, what are you doing Napoleon?

SpoilerTurn 177 :

A GProphet is born to establish a Holy Shrine near Davao. I want the extra golds from my religion to buy diplomatic units in the future. Haile as a friendly civ, gave me silk.

SpoilerTurn 178 :

Another short-lived Alliance, Panama. I discovered Uluru in Zulu? they have 2 natural wonders on that landmass, mine has 0, quite unfair. I moved my missionary to spread on Panama City.

SpoilerTurn 180 :

Last turn, I forgot that I can adopt a policy, not a big deal though. I found the world congress!

SpoilerTurn 181 :

Everything is doing well, now we'll focus on snowballing. I have another objective in mind since I finished the objectives from last part (exploration is underway). In order to "snowball" by my own definition, I want to achieve the following:
1. Successful 2nd settling phase - 5 cities in mind.
2. Address unhappiness by building circus and public works
3. Build Globe Theater and Sistine Chapel
4. Ally all nearby city-states (about 9?)

This is all for today, Thank you, if you have questions, feel free to comment!

"Never trust an Asian"- random asian stranger
Just look at the flowers Lizzie